For the first time the Van Cliburn Competition has been won by three Asian candidates: two very young winners sharing the top prize and no 'crystal' (third) prize being awarded. One of the top two was a blind Japanese boy whom some have been calling the 'Susan Boyle' of the piano: Nobuyuki Tsujii, 20, who has been blind since birth. The other, Haocheng Zhang from China, turned 19 during the contest.
Here's a report from Michael Johnson from Facts & Arts, putting most of the situation into a nutshell and including the delicately-expressed information that some of the jurors appear to have voted for their own students, that the contest finished on a 'sour' note, that some felt there was a bias against Russian candidates and that the audience mobbed the Italian finalist Mariangela Vacatello and thought she'd been short-changed. [The Facts & Arts article also alleges that Tsujii is 'mentally handicapped' as well as blind, but as you'll see from the comments this detail is disputed and I am unable to confirm either way, though have found no other references to this condition as yet.]
I dread to think what the music business machine will decide to do with 'Nobu'.
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5 comments:
Jessica, I no longer take much interest in these competitions, but Tsujii does interest me. I must say that I have heard nothing of his being mentally handicapped. I have heard him interviewed, and if he does have such a thing, it must be a very odd one indeed. But I have also seen the video of his Chopin etudes in the his first recital at the competition -- it's on Youtube and a number of sites -- and frankly, Helmut Walcha notwithstanding, I did not think this was possible. His technique is very considerable indeed -- well, Chopin etudes -- but there is also considerably more in his playing. I thought the Susan Boyle story was a touching one and I was pleased for her, but I think whoever made that analogy should be ashamed of themselves -- this is not the same thing at all and I find it denigrating.
That's a very carelessly written article, full of innuendo and remarkably weak evidence for the opinions being delivered. For example: "Some critics felt she had been undervalued by the jury." There will never be a competition anywhere in which some critics don't feel that some competitor has been undervalued or overvalued by the jury.
All of the performances are online and available for viewing, although I see no evidence that Johnson watched much of the performances, relying again and again on the authority of "some critics."
I happen to agree that Nobu's playing may have been overrated because of his story. By the way, I don't think such overrating is generally an intentional act of carelessness; rather, it just shows that we react to musical performance as humans. However, there were many, many piano fans (including some very distinguised pianists) who found his playing genuinely compelling.
I think Johnson's throwaway line about Zhang is borderline offensive: "[Zhang] was noticed throughout the two-week eliminations as a player with strong technique but sometimes superficial grasp of the music. This is a common complaint about Asians now flooding U.S. and European conservatories and competitions."
First of all, Zhang's technique is not merely strong; it is stupendous, not just in terms of getting notes, but in showing full command of what he's doing musically. Of course it's subjective, but I think people read "superficial" into his playing for the same kind of reason they read "deeply spiritual" in Nobu's. They're influenced by what they see (in this case, a shy, wiry Asian man) and by stereotypes they bring to the occasion - the very kind of stereotype that Johnson blithely endorses.
Zhang's Prokofiev #2 was, in my opinion, the most mature and professional of any of the concerto performances - unlike Vacatello's Prokofiev #3, for example, he achieved much better unanimity with the orchestra. She raced ahead of them many times. There was also pretty widespread consensus that Nobu's Chopin E Minor was quite special.
But, I'll concede that my opinions are subjective, as are those of the jury and "the critics." Mr. Johnson would do well to remember that, and not just take it on faith that Nobu "went right past the music in the famous (Chopin) third etude, because he couldn't wait to get to the thirds." It's so easy to write (or quote) something like that; much harder to prove.
Like Philip, I'm most disturbed by Johnson's careless armchair diagnosis of Nobu's mental condition. I don't even know what to say about the dismissive "a blind, autistic Japanese boy who memorizes music from CDs." First of all, Johnson doesn't know that Nobu is autistic; he's only guessing. Secondly, the remarkable way in which this young man learns music can hardly be reduced to such an insulting phrase. He actually won the award for best performance of a new piece - and I read somewhere (don't remember where) that a listener was stunned to follow the score and see how thoroughly the pianist had assimilated every detail that was marked.
Perhaps we'll learn more in time about who Nobu is as a person; maybe some of Johnson's careless speculations will have proven to be valid. As of now, I'm hardly shocked that a young man from a very different country/culture, man with limited English skills and no sight, might choose to remain silent in public settings that must have been overwhelming.
Jessica, I'd highly recommend that you read through some of the blog reviews of the competiton by Dr. Gregory Allen. You can start with his summation here.
I apologize for going on at such length, and honestly wish I had time to refute Mr. Johnson's article point-by-point, but I'll admit it makes me angry to read, and it does a disservice to your readers to present it as you have.
Sorry, one more thing. I agree that competitions are highly problematic, and that they often don't do a great job of finding great artists. I thought that the best and most compelling of the finalists (I heard very little of the prelims and semis, so can't comment much about them) was Evgeni Bozhanov, but he plays in a highly idiosyncratic, strong-willed way that drove many people crazy. Maybe it would have driven you crazy as well, but he's the pianist I'd most want to hear again.
I know , Jessica, that you have longstanding issues with competitions and probably know stuff about them that would horrify all of us, but that doesn't excuse the kind of lazy competition-bashing in which Johnson indulges. By the way, this is the first I'd heard of "jury members openly voting for their own students" (in this competition). I wasn't aware that any of the voting was "open," for one thing, but does anyone know what Johnson's evidence is for this claim?
Michael M, I assure you I don't have personal 'issues' with competitions. What I have seen from the inside, though, suggests a great deal of despicable corruption that does a massive disservice both to musicians and to the listening public, who are, as so often in the music world, roundly duped.
Neither blindness nor autism has ever been a block to fabulous musicianship. I am deeply fond - both musically and personally - of the French pianist Bernard d'Ascoli, who has been blind since early childhood and is one of the most remarkable people I've ever met, with musicianship to match.
'Autism' and terms such as 'mentally handicapped' cover a very, very wide range of conditions and I can think of at least one international star pianist who is widely thought to have borderline Asperger's syndrome.
What worries me about 'Nobu' is the possibility that the music biz sharks might see him as another easy target. You know the score: promote physically or mentally troubled artist, draw public sympathy, make heaps of money out of him, give him a little of it, drop him when the next one comes along. It happens. I wish to high heaven that it didn't. I hope he has protective people around him who have his best interests at heart.
Re the Cliburn "Odd Couple" article, my purpose was to look at the Cliburn's integrity problems as exemplified by the controversial joint awards this year. Others are beginning to question the Competition outcome. Both Nobuyuki Tsujii and Hoachen Zhang, the gold winners, were widely believed to have been chosen on criteria other than pure musicality. Benjamin Ivry in the Wall Street Journal was even more pointed in his criticism, calling Zhang an "unfinished musician" and describing Tsujii's Rachmaninoff Second as a "disaster". Much of the critical comment I cite comes direclty from the Cliburn blog. My detail on jury behavior and Tsujii's health problems are based on reports from serious people at the Fort Worth event. I stand by my reporting.
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